Chapter 4

Secondary Research

All research methods begin with the gathering of information or data available on a given topic or problem. This gathering of information is called secondary research, and although extremely important, may be the most overlooked of the public relations research methodologies available to professionals. Why? In part it may stem from the 24/7 nature of public relations—seldom, it would seem, do public relations professionals have the necessary lead time to conduct systematic secondary research on some topic. Second, a great many public relations professionals have little academic coursework in public relations, and a great many have never attempted a research methods course (the perception is that public relations ...

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